Anti-Thatcher campaign to push Ding Dong! to No. 1 falls short

[&amp;lt;a href="//storify.com/cbccommunity/bbc-thatcher-ding-dong" target="_blank"&amp;gt;View the story "Anti-Thatcher campaign to push Ding Dong! to No. 1 falls short" on Storify&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;]&amp;lt;h1&amp;gt;Anti-Thatcher campaign to push Ding Dong! to No. 1 falls short&amp;lt;/h1&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h2&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/h2&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Storified by &amp;lt;a href="http://storify.com/cbccommunity"&amp;gt;CBC News Community&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;amp;middot; Mon, Apr 15 2013 08:38:33&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;An online anti-Thatcher campaign to push &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;to the top of the music charts missed its goal by one position, and the Radio 1 show &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;BBC Chart &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;faced criticism for airing a brief clip from the song. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;A &amp;lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/2807687628/" class=""&amp;gt;Facebook group dating back to 2007&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; called on Britons to download digital copies of the song from &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;The Wizard of Oz &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;the week that former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher died to make the song No. 1. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;Such a placement, the campaigners believed, would force the BBC music chart show of record and other Top 40 shows to play &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;, adopted as an anti-Thatcher anthem. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Mark Biddis, one of the organizers of the Facebook campaign, told ITV News that Thatcher's death brought a "tidal wave of emotion" for Britons and buying the song was "a very cathartic experience, I think, for a lot of people who feel for many years they haven't been listened to." &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Buying anti-Thatcher Ding Dong song 'very cathartic'itvnews&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;The campaign reached beyond music, as these banners at a Glasgow soccer match show.&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Celtic fans rise to the occasion: as usual http://pic.twitter.com/65yVIXFqkgGeorge Galloway&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;In the end, the song &amp;lt;a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22145306" class=""&amp;gt;fell short of the No. 1 spot&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, which went to &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Need U (100%) &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;by Duke Dumont featuring A*M*E for the second week in a row. . &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Anti-Anti-Thatcher Backlash: &amp;amp;quot;Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead&amp;amp;quot; is denied No. 1 on the UK singles chart http://blbrd.co/Zv3nevBillboard &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;You can listen to how &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;BBC Chart &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;handled &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Ding Dong&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;'s placement at No. 2 in this post on the social sound website Audioboo: &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Thatcher Ding Dong! - BBC ChartThere are a few occasions when people buy a song to make a point. It happens when a song is banned. It happens when folk try to keep the ...&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;The two-minute news story was more than twice as long as the 51-second radio edit of the song. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;In a &amp;lt;a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/posts/Statement-regarding-Radio-1s-Chart-Show-14-April-2013" class=""&amp;gt;statement released Friday&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, Been Cooper, controller of Radio 1, announced that &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;BBC Chart&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; would treat the chart position of &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;as news, airing only two brief clips of the song as part of the story. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;Eddit Mair of the BBC Radio 4 news program &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;PM&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;, asked Cooper about the BBC's compromise. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Eddie Mair interviews Radio 1 Controller - PM programme, BBC Radio 4Eddie Mair interviews Ben Cooper, Controller of Radio 1, about the Official Chart Show and Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead #dingdong #r4pm&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;The private radio chart show &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Big Top 40 &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;didn't play the entire song either, even though it placed on its chart at No. 9. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Thatcher Ding Dong! - Big Top 40It's interesting that the Ding Dong! controversy (see previous Boo) centred on the BBC chart positions, regardless of the larger scale of...&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;BBC faced criticism from U.K. press for even considering airing the "insulting" song three days before Thatcher's funeral. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Mail: BBC 'Witch' song insult to Maggie #tomorrowspaperstoday #BBCpapers http://pic.twitter.com/B0ZNE9aDebNeil Henderson&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;But many on the left in Britain saw the BBC's decision not to play the entire song as capitulation to its critics. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Disappointed that the #BBC is letting itself be censored by the #DailyMail over #DingDong. No longer about Thatcher. #Gonernmentbydailymailrobert howell&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;It is ridiculous the BBC has given in to calls for censorship by playing only a short clip of #dingdong - it doesn't have offensive lyrics!Sunny Hundal&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead may be in bad taste but in a free society the #BBC is wrong to censor it #WitchIsDead #dingdong @IndexCensorshipPeter Tatchell&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Hang on now we're banning music because of possible thoughts of the people who are buying it? Orwell must be laughing. Bitterly. #dingdongStephen May&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Judy Garland banned. Rainbow privatised, handed over to Emerald City chaps. BBC search for brain, courage &amp;amp;amp; heart. #Thatcher #dingdongAnna Chen&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;First they came for the Munchkins, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Munchkin. #dingdongChrïs&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Dear @BBC, please provide a list of political songs which you are willing to play so we don't all rush out and buy the wrong ones. #DingDongScrapper Duncan&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;So if BBC won't play #dingdong due to people being offended, will they not show her funeral due to people being offended?Ryan Melville &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;If Mrs Thatcher changed the world, her reputation can survive 50 seconds of Judy Garland #dingdong #bbcRobert Butler&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Legacy of libertarian Margaret Thatcher is the national broadcaster banning a song for children sung by dwarves. That's freedom #dingdongAshley Mason&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;And some on the right end of the political spectrum, including former Conservative MP Louise Mensch and Nigel Farage, the leader of the Independence Party, also said not playing the song was a mistake. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;No song should be banned by the BBC unless its lyrics are pre-watershed. Thatcher stood for freedom. She'd have hated #LevesonLouise Mensch&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;(The "watershed" Mensch refers to is the 9:00 p.m. hour after which strong language can be aired in the U.K..)&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Farage: 'If you suppress things then you make them popular, so play the bloody thing. If you ban it it will be number 1 for weeks' #dingdongJames Chapman (Mail)&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Many people criticized the campaign itself, too, each for their own reasons. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;I don't care what peoples opinion of Thatcher is. Downloading &amp;amp;quot;Ding dong the witch is dead&amp;amp;quot; is inexcusable! http://pic.twitter.com/VHco7s6wyeShahi Ghani&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;So, the anti-Thatcher brigade have paid their biggest tribute to Thatcher yet by coming second like they did for the entire 1980's #DingDongBenjamin Pelc&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;In 77 I bought God Save The Qeen, not because I wanted to make any kind of protest; because it was a great record. #dingdong is crap.Simon Le Bon&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;#DingDong NOT No 1. Good. Regardless of where you stand on #Thatcher legacy, calling women witches should be sexist HISTORY. #DingDidntDominic&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;I object to #thatcher being labelled as a witch because they were healers who tried to help those who had become ill in their communitiesSue&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/360169907421522/" class=""&amp;gt;Another Facebook campaign&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; was organized to counter the &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Ding Dong! &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;buy-out. Supporters of Margaret Thatcher urged followers to buy copies of the 1979 song &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;I'm in Love with Margaret Thatcher&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; to push it up the charts. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;It was promoted by prominent Conservatives, including Mensch, MP Nick Herbert and Tory political bloggers. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Their hate - our humour! Buy #ImInLoveWithMargaretThatcher on Itunes once more! Few hours left! #HopeNotHate #GranthamStyleLouise Mensch&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Always loathed the Munchkins anyway. Friendship with Dorothy over - I've downloaded #iminlovewithmargaretthatcher http://tinyurl.com/clpxd35Nick Herbert&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Get &amp;amp;quot;I'm in Love with Margaret Thatcher&amp;amp;quot; to No. 1! RT and buy the track! https://www.facebook.com/groups/360169907421522/ #ThatcherSimon Harley&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Just persuaded my mother to make her first online music purchase... Let's take this song to Number 1! #ImInLoveWithMagaretThatcherMars Martin&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;10 minutes or so to defeat the Ding Donging haters Amazon for Android/BlackBerry http://www.amazon.co.uk/Im-Love-With-Margaret-Thatcher/dp/B009LTV8TI Itunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/im-in-love-margaret-thatcher/id567824425?i=567824493&amp;amp;amp;ign-mpt=uo%3D4m &amp;amp;lt;BOTHGuido Fawkes&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;By Sunday's broadcast of &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;BBC Chart&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;, the song reached No. 35 and was played in full on the show. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;How can the BBC play ALL of 'I'm in love with Margaret Thatcher',but only 5 secs of the 'Wicked Witch is dead'?Surely u treat both the same?Andy Lloyd&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;BBC's top ten show played 5 secs of Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead which came in #2 but all of song praising Thatcher which was #35. Gutless.Harold Itzkowitz&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Ironically, &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;I'm in Love with Margaret Thatcher &amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;is a tongue-in-cheek song by punk band Notsensibles from the northern town of Burnley. Band member &amp;lt;a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21241791" class=""&amp;gt;Steven Hartley told BBC News&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; that the song is a satirical swipe at Thatcher, written when she was first elected PM. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;"We were of Thatcher's Britain - just a bunch of ordinary north-west lads from a north-western town," he said. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;not sensibles, I'm in Love With Margaret Thatchershelfdiscs&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;@Helen121 louise mensch has been plugging the NotSensibles song 'Im in love with Margaret Thatcher, she thinks it's a tribute, priceless.Peter Jackson&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Really pleased to see @GuidoFawkes and @simonharley promoting an anti-Thatcher song. #thatcher #dingdong #ironicandrew_carver&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;The irony of people buying &amp;amp;quot;I'm in love with Margaret Thatcher&amp;amp;quot; in response to #DingDong is incredible, it's an anti-Thatcher song.Tom Spray&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;The band, which has reformed and is playing gigs in England, lapped up the sales and publicity. The band's Twitter account retweeted posts from Conservatives pushing for sales of the track, as well as those mocking them for the same. &amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;div&amp;gt;Are people beginning to take us seriouslyNotsensibles&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;